Becky is chatting with her classmate Lily in the common room of their dorm.

    Becky: Hi, Lily. What are you studying?

    Lily: Oh, my teacher gave us a list of words that are easy to confuse with each other.

    Becky: Yeah, those can be tricky.

    Lily: I've seen the most common ones, like "it's and its," and "to-too-two." But these are kind of high-level vocabulary words.

    Becky: Need some help?

    Lily: I'd appreciate it. The first words are stationary and stationery.

    Becky: Oh, yeah. That's a good one! So the one with the "a" means "standing still, not moving."

    Lily: Is that like the word "station?"

    Becky: Yes, it is. The word actually comes from a word that means "place." We find it in other English words like "state," "status," and "static."

    Lily: What about the one with the "e?"

    Becky: That means paper goods, pens, and other things used for writing. In fact, it also finally comes from the word "station," because in the Middle Ages there were wandering salespeople selling such things from place to place or "station to station."

    Lily: Interesting! Here's another: imminent, eminent, and immanent.

    Becky: Oh, man! These are tough! You'll hear "eminent" pretty often. That can mean famous, or well-known.

    Lily: Can't it also mean "noticeable," like an eminent building that sticks up above others?

    Becky: Sure. And "imminent" with an "i" in the middle is fairly common. It means "about to happen."

    Lily: Like "the holidays are imminent."

    Becky: Right. But the last one, with an "a" in the middle, is rarely used. It means something like "inborn" or "inherent."

    Lily: I don't get it.

    Becky: Listen to this: "Love of country is immanent in the heart of every good citizen."

    Lily: Oh, I see. It's a natural part of it, or it can't be separated from it?

    Becky: Yes, something like that. Tell me some more words.

    Lily: This one really gets me: altogether and all together. I know they're both adverbs, but...

    Becky: Think of it like this: "altogether" means "entirely" or "completely," but "all together" means "with each other."

    Lily: Is it the same as alright and all right?

    Becky: Not really. "All right" is the more formal, proper, form. "Alright" is less formal. But mostly, they're used the same way. when they're used to mean "OK," they're the same. "I feel all right" is the same as "I feel alright."

    Lily: But?

    Becky: But sometimes "all right" can mean "all correct," like in "Your answers on the test were all right."

    Lily: I see. Alright, thanks for your help, Becky.

    Becky: No problem. Good luck with your list!